Hitmen veterans eager to share NHL camp experiences with teammates

Goaltender from the Kootenay Ice Payton Lee blocks a shot from the Calgary Hitmen during the regular season home opener at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alta., on Friday, Sept. 23, 2016.Elizabeth Cameron / -

Beck Malenstyn learned a lot at his first National Hockey League training camp with the Washington Capitals.

Now back with the Calgary Hitmen, the 18-year-old forward is hoping to pass along some of that knowledge to his teammates.

“As a younger guy going into camp, it was a successful experience for me and it was great,” said Malenstyn, who was selected in the fifth round, 145th overall, of last June’s NHL Draft by the Capitals. “I think the biggest thing is just the preparation and taking care of your body.

“You see how committed those guys are that have been playing in the league for 14, 15 years. They obviously know what it takes. You just see the care they take of their bodies and just that maintenance and I think that’s probably the biggest thing I’m going to take back with me.”

Hearing that players like Malenstyn plan to pass along their experiences to other Hitmen players is music to coach Mark French’s ears

“I think they’ve got to bring it to our room,” said French, who also received more good news this past week when Carsen Twarynski (Philadelphia Flyers), Jakob Stukel (Vancouver Canucks) and Aaron Hyman (Calgary Flames) were returned to the Hitmen from their first NHL training camp experiences. “We know it’s a different level, but to bring some of those values and some of those habits back to the room so our young guys can learn from them and the experience that they’ve gained at NHL camps.”

Malenstyn, Twarynski, Stukel and Hyman will all be in the lineup when the Hitmen (2-0) travel to take on the Letbridge Hurricanes (1-1) on Saturday night (7 p.m.).

“We’ve had a couple good days of practice here and we’re up for the challenge,” said Hyman, who’s ready to get back at it with the Hitmen after attending training camp with the Flames as a free agent. “I think we all took away some things from the camps that we were at and we’re hoping to bring that back and bring back the pace that we were able to practice at and just the execution level as well.”

In his first training camp with the Flyers, Twarynski enjoyed getting the chance to skate with fellow prospects and NHL veterans alike.

“To be able to bring my experience back to the guys back here and kind of motivate them and keep myself motivated, I think that’ll be a big step,” said Twarynski, who was happy that the Hitmen won both ends of their home-and-home series with the Kootenay Ice last weekend. “Obviously it was a big weekend for our team to get two wins with a bunch of us gone and Kootenay having a full lineup. Congrats to the boys for getting a good start. Now with us getting back, we’ve got to keep it going.”

Stukel was also impressed that Calgary’s rookie-laden lineup was able to start the season strongly, despite missing seven regulars from the lineup.

“Last two games, we had a pretty young roster there, but they pulled through it,” said Stukel, who is also hoping to bring back confidence from his experience at training camp with the Canucks. “That was pretty impressive. Hopefully we can go 3-0 and beat Lethbridge here.”

As of Thursday, the Hitmen still had three veterans missing from their roster as forwards Matteo Gennaro and Jordy Stallard (both with the Winnipeg Jets) and defenceman Jake Bean (Carolina Hurricanes) were away at NHL training camps.

ICE CHIPS: Earlier this week, the Hitmen assigned 15-year-old defenceman Jackson van de Leest to the Okanagan Hockey Academy midget prep team, while fellow blue-liner Scott Allan cleared 20-year-old waivers and was sent back to the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors. … The Hitmen also released Brayden Brown and Bryce Platt and traded fellow forward Dawson Martin to the Red Deer Rebels in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft.

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